I Won't Let It
by The Mad Traveler
Summary: "Where is she?" "She'll be okay, I promise." "You promise. That is not the first time I've heard that from a Winchester. If anything happens to her-" "It won't, I won't let it."


"_Where is she?"_

"_She'll be okay, I promise."_

"_You promise. That is not the first time I've heard that from a Winchester. If anything happens to her-"_

"_It won't, I won't let it."_

"Turns out my Dad had a partner on his last hunt. Funny, he usually worked alone; this guy did too, but… I guess my father figured he could trust him. Mistake. Guy screwed up, got my dad killed."

"What does that have to do with-"

"It was your father, Dean."

"What?"

"Why do you think John never back? Never told you about us? 'Cause he couldn't look my mom in the eye after that, that's why."

"Jo-"

"Just… just get out of here. Please, just leave."

He'd promised.

His father had promised.

Dammit.

He'd used her as bait.

Like father, like daughter.

Dammit.

She's walking away, and he has half a mind to turn back to the Impala and just leave. He could just walk away, _or…_

"Jo, wait."

Silence.

"Jo!"

He could just walk away-

He runs after her.

How could he walk away?

"Jo, please."

She almost stops, Dean Winchester, saying please?

She could just stop, she could just make this easier, but she keeps walking.

He could turn back-

She could just stop-

Tears form in her eyes, and she starts running towards the woods.

She'll be damned if Dean Winchester sees her cry.

He could just-

He takes off after her.

"Jo!"

She runs.

He runs.

She can't hold herself together any longer, and Jo Harvelle brakes down in front of Dean Winchester.

She could just stop.

Jo keeps running, and he can see her shoulders shake and her steps become unsteady. He catches her when she falls.

"I'm sorry, Jo, I'm so, so sorry."

Dean holds the broken girl as she shakes with the force of her own sobs.

She hated crying in front of people. It made her feel like a little girl.

After a few moments, she stops crying, stands up, and starts walking back to the roadhouse, leaving Dean without a word.

He stands and easily catches up with her, "Jo-"

"I'm fine," she responds coldly.

"No, you're not," he says as he moves in front of her.

"Well, I'm pretending to be, and you being here is making it very difficult."

"I'm not leaving."

"I am."

"No you aren't."

"I can't stay here." He realizes that she isn't talking about getting away from him, she's talking about the roadhouse, her mom.

"Then come with me and Sam."

"You said it yourself, Dean, if you ran away with me, my mom might kill you."

"I don't care."

"Dean,"

"I don't. When you were trapped, I told your mom that I wouldn't let anything happen to you-"

"I'm not a little kid, Dean. You don't have to _babysit_ me."

"You think I don't know that, Jo?"

"Then why do keep treating me like a little kid?!"

"Because I can't lose you! Everytime I leave here, it feels like I'm leaving a part of me. I need you, but I can't have you for your own good. If you're here, you're safe, but hunting? You'll never be safe again, but you'll go anyway. I know you will, so at least if you're with me and Sam, I know where you are, and I know that you're alive."

Jo stands there, stunned. He'd described her feelings in painful accuracy.

"Now you know how I feel. You walk out of those damn doors and it hurts. I need you, but you never looked back. You're out there, where I don't know if you're even alive."

"I always look back, you just aren't looking when I do."

Jo steps closer and tilts her head up just enough. One of Dean's hands settles on the small of her back, and pulls her even closer. She leans up and he leans down, and their lips meet. The two kiss not with lust or greed, but with pure adoration and love for the other. The kiss deepens, and it felt like nothing short of magic. They separated only when the need for air became too great.

"Yeah, I- uh, I'll come with you and Sam."

Dean kisses her again before starting back towards the roadhouse.

When Ash, who had stepped outside when he saw Sam standing alone, sees Dean and Jo walking back, laughing, he turns to Sam, and says, "That's the thing about those two, they're so different, and they still know exactly what to say and what the other's thinking. Soulmates."


End file.
